1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to relocation of display cases used in stores. More particularly it relates to a lifting apparatus which is adaptable for a plurality of configurations to lift different types of display cases and allow easy insertion of dollies under the legs of such large storage and display structures. Such gondolas and display cases are employed generally as retail store display cases, file cabinets, shelving, and other such components which use a system of small legs engaged to a support structure to support the display case, and the stored or displayed goods above a floor surface.
2. Prior Art
Storage and display shelving and cases are an everyday fact of life in a modern society. Because floor space in most retail stores, storage warehouses, and office buildings is at such a premium, the display and storage of merchandise, records, and an infinite number of other items have progressed upward. In order to conserve floor space in retail situations and provide a better viewing and access to products, shelving is commonly employed to hold products. Such shelving is generally arranged to form isles for customers to traverse through adjacent shelf structures. The shelves in this configuration give the customers a much better view of the products as well as holding much more inventory than could be done if shelving were not used.
In warehouses where goods and products are stored for distribution or shipping, shelving is also employed to increase the storage capacity in the given floor space and to organize the inventory. Offices also use shelving to hold records and display goods as well as file cabinets to organize and hold volumes of files, thereby concentrating storage in a small but heavy area.
All such shelving and cabinets, whether in retail stores, warehouses, and offices, must be structurally able to support the load intended, making it heavy. Such shelving is even heavier when fully loaded with the product or item being stored on its shelves.
A vexing problem of such shelving by nature of its need to support a load is the weight and ungainly nature of the shelving especially when loaded with products for sale. The shelves loaded with products are inherently top heavy and easily tip over. A variety of jacks and dollies have been introduced in the past, most of which pertain to the lifting of such cabinets which have support legs with an adjustable leveling foot extending therefrom to level the shelves. However most conventional products lack an adaptable display engaging component to lift the legs of different types of gondolas and display racks and concurrently allow easy insertion of a dolly or skate thereunder while lifted. This is especially the case where the dolly to be employed under the leg is not provided in a matched system to work with the lifting apparatus or jack.
The ungainliness of the shelving and the lack of lifting devices adaptable to the task becomes a vexing task when the moving of shelves is required during the remodeling or renovation of retail stores such as grocery stores, drug stores and the like. During such a remodeling process, it is often necessary to move large display cases, conventionally known as gondolas, which hold everything from tooth paste to canned soup. Moving generally requires repositioning the shelves or gondolas from one part of the store to another. Such display cases or gondolas are large, heavy, and have extending shelves which hold and display a very large number of small products for sale, making them top heavy and unstable. With the cost of labor and time involved, removing and replacing the products each time the display case is to be relocated can be especially expensive and can also play havoc with the short time schedules allotted for the remodeling process to minimize lost sales. As such, a device for lifting and a system providing the ability to move display cases and other heavy storage devices, while fully loaded with products or other stored items, is highly desirable.
In some instances shorter and smaller loaded display cases can be relocated with any suitable lifting apparatus, such as conventional elongated fork lifts or floor jacks, by placing them on conventional flat surfaced dollies for transport. However, most display cases are too long, or, as is normal in retail sales establishments, the cases are connected together in long sets of fifty feet or more spaced apart by narrow aisles. Consequently, transport by floor jack or flat dollies is not an option. Further, because storage and display properties of such display cases generally yield shelves very close to opposing shelves on the other side of the display aisle, frequently there is insufficient room in the aisle between adjacent display cases for entry of a fork lift or large flat surfaced dolly.
Additionally, while small dollies have been manufactured to engage with portions of the underlying support structure of the shelves, the ever widening variety and construction of such support structures has made it hard to employ small dollies which will accommodate the width and legs of different types of supports. Ideally, a dolly should be provided that works in conjunction with the lifting apparatus, but the lifting apparatus should be adaptable to work with a plurality of different dollies or skates so it may be employed in locations with existing dollies.
As such, there is a continuing unmet need for an improved lifting device and system adapted to lift the legs of gondolas and display cases in supermarkets and stores. Such a device should be easily adaptable to lift a wide variety of legs of different dimensions by a swift change of an engaging mechanism. Such a display lifting device should also provide for easy inline insertion of a dolly or skate once the gondola, shelf, or filing cabinet is lifted, and easy subsequent lifting off the dolly or skate once the cabinet has reached its intended position.